22 January, Monday — Stay in your lane

22 Jan – Memorial for St. Vincent, deacon and martyr

St. Vincent of Saragossa (d. 304) was a friend of St. Valerius of Saragossa in Spain, and served as his deacon. He was imprisoned and tortured in Valencia, some of it by burning on a gridiron, for his faith. He converted the jailor and was finally offered release if he would give up the sacred texts to the fire, but he refused. He was martyred during the persecutions of Diocletian.

• Patron Saint Index

2 Sam 5:1-7, 10
Mk 3:22-30

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, the kingdom cannot last.”

There was a time where I had the misfortune of seeing a fellow colleague being scolded by our superior. He had offered his help to another colleague but in the end, his actions had actually caused the department to suffer in the form of additional work. I overheard the phrase “stay in your lane” being used and had to look it up. It meant that we had to stick to what we knew and not engage in activities which we are unsure about. The readings of today do remind us of the importance to remain focused on our task of working on our salvation. We have to ensure that there is a need for us to stay close to Jesus and the teachings which the Church provides.

Some Catholics whom I know are ‘buffet’ Catholics. They choose what they like and discard the rest. However, this is not the nature of the Catholic faith. We are called to embrace everything which the Church teaches. There are teachings such as divorce, euthanasia, abortion which are controversial to some. Perhaps it could also be that another Catholic party has hurt us in our interactions, which has caused us to be distracted from the path of our salvation. I do ask each one of you to consider the source of our pain. I am not asking you to ignore or neglect these hurts, but instead to embrace them and see how they have enriched your tapestry of life. What then can we do to heal the divisions in our life?

We could take it to God in prayer and ask him for direction on how to proceed. Perhaps going for the Sacrament of Reconciliation will help us to restore our relationship with God by giving us the sacramental grace to fill our soul. On the practical side, we could speak to a therapist or trusted friend to find out what is holding us back in continuing to flourish in our life.

These steps help us to restore the divisions in our life so that we become whole with God. This will allow us to become authentic Christians who radiate God’s love to all around us.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)

Prayer: Lord, we pray for your grace to acknowledge our brokenness and to allow your grace to flow within us.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks for all who accept us for who we are.